Ziyi Yan/闫梓祎
moving/dream
two things are unique to a home:
writers’ block and wetting the bed. in sleep
my adult teeth pushed each other
from my mouth like dominos. you held
me, a wrinkled fetus with long hair–
we can laugh at that. but really, you held
old jeans like a plea. my stomach bulged
from the fabric and i forgot why
we took turns apologizing.
whenever my sister wants to play
a board game, i say i need
to write. actually i scratch out
my hair and watch videos of celebrities
kissing in the next room. i crawl
to her bed when i know she’s crawled
to yours. in a false dawn you nestle
me to your stomach, so i feign deafness
as you open the curtains. 五分钟走, you
snap. in haste, i paw everything
out of my underwear drawer–
i never wrangled our knocker to choke
your screaming. i was sprawled
on the porch, wincing at how even wood
whined under me. the time you waste
in driving me has dribbled
down my chin, searching for taste. mom
we whittle this house
to a pyre. tonight
my mouth is dried raw and i’m sorry
i mocked you for this:
we’ve locked our keys in the new house.
your jeans in my closet are moving.
* “五分钟走” translates to, “we leave in five minutes.”
writers’ block and wetting the bed. in sleep
my adult teeth pushed each other
from my mouth like dominos. you held
me, a wrinkled fetus with long hair–
we can laugh at that. but really, you held
old jeans like a plea. my stomach bulged
from the fabric and i forgot why
we took turns apologizing.
whenever my sister wants to play
a board game, i say i need
to write. actually i scratch out
my hair and watch videos of celebrities
kissing in the next room. i crawl
to her bed when i know she’s crawled
to yours. in a false dawn you nestle
me to your stomach, so i feign deafness
as you open the curtains. 五分钟走, you
snap. in haste, i paw everything
out of my underwear drawer–
i never wrangled our knocker to choke
your screaming. i was sprawled
on the porch, wincing at how even wood
whined under me. the time you waste
in driving me has dribbled
down my chin, searching for taste. mom
we whittle this house
to a pyre. tonight
my mouth is dried raw and i’m sorry
i mocked you for this:
we’ve locked our keys in the new house.
your jeans in my closet are moving.
* “五分钟走” translates to, “we leave in five minutes.”
Biography
|
Ziyi Yan/闫梓祎 (she/her) is a young Chinese writer living in Connecticut. She is an alumna of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio and the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship. Her writing has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards on a national level. She is published or forthcoming in Polyphony Lit, elementia, Breakbread Literacy Project, eunoia, Daphne Review, Paper Crane Journal, and others. She is a poetry finalist for the BreakBread Literacy Project and the winner of the Piedmont Institution Communications Contest. She is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Dawn Review. In addition to writing, she loves watching old One Direction interviews, blasting karaoke in the middle of the night, and annoying her younger sister. You can find her on Instagram @Ziyiyan___
|
